what do you all think is the best sports car for $20K- $30K in terms of styling, performance and of course, raw horsepower?? I have been looking at a 2001 BMW 540i Dinan edition, which is a 540i with upgraded exhaust, suspension and a supercharger- puts out around 400 horsepower and the tuners claim that it can beat a M5 in a race.....dunno about that one....... so, if you had a budget of say 30-35K max, what would you buy??
For $35K, the best real sports car you can buy is a used Corvette Z06. Everything else in that price range is more of a luxury coupe or roadster (Z3/Z4, S2000, 350Z, RX-8, whatever). You could also pick up a used Acura NSX which handles very well and is a blast to drive. -Fast
if you talking new, I think the evo vii or the wrx stii are great cars under 35k if you talking used. Why not a high mileage viper from 1992 your thoughts?
If you really want to drive the hell out of it - run it into the ground, buy a Miata - cheap and if it breaks, throw it away and buy another. 3 Miata's = 1 Vette. You can either have a nice sportscar and have some fun OR buy a cheap thing, do whatever the hell ya want with it and know you can replace it if ya totally $&^# it up.
As a former Japanese Car street racer doing quarter mile street races in Los Angeles... Power and speed is not much of big deal. 1. Living in the city, you'll never bust out 140 mph... 2. Power wise... as long as the car's unfaded with a full load it's fine.... I think most V6 engine (OK, I'd say 200 horses) will be more than enough.... 3. I love Automatic... I love to drink coffee while driving... Driving is a great time to relax, not a time to pump my adrenaline... 4. Safety is more important. I want to be safe in an accident. 5. Fixin' cost. I like to get mainstream, Ford, Toyota, etc. etc. cars because it's they cost a lot less to fix and also faster. I used to own a Subaru and the parts are hard to get and more expensive. It took them 4 days just to change the brake pads because they couldn't find the parts.... Now that's messed up... Well, there's a lot of choices left for me...
Here ya go; Expected price around $20 K http://www.fast-autos.net/pontiac/pontiacsolstice.html just have patience Peace, RS
Without a doubt, this car ( fully loaded for $32,500 ) is right there at the top of the list. 238 horsepower out of a tiny 1.3 liter rotary engine, great cockpit, pedal placement, interior, and performance, along with actual seating capacity for 2 adults in the backseat. Motor Trend just placed it #1 versus the Honda 2000 and Nissan 350Z in a comparison test: http://www.motortrend.com/toc/ Can't wait for the MazdaSpeed version coming out later this year!
I got a 350Z in the fall and love it. It it more of a sports car then a RX-8 (more power and only a 2 seater). For the money, it performs better then anything else.
Have you found that the alignment is critical on the front end of your Z? Many people and magazine's have complained about poor tire wear, resulting in a terrible and most annoying "drone" coming from the tires.